Categoria:Materials design
Tópico de Língua Inglesa IV (Fins Específicos) Profa. Patrícia Nora de Souza Ribeiro Alunas: Clarissa Guimarães e Natany Bersan ' ' 'Materials design ' A teacher or institution may wish to provide teaching materials that will fit the specific subject area of particular learners. What are materials supposed to do? - Encourage learners to learn - Contain interesting texts; enjoyable activities which engage the learners` thinking capacities; opportunities for learners to use their existing knowledge and skills; content which both learner and teacher can cope with - Reflect what you think and feel about the learning process - Try to create a balanced outlook which both reflects the complexity of the task, yet makes it appear manageable A materials design model The model consists of four elements: a) Input: This may be a text, dialogue, video-recording, diagram or any piece of communication data, depending on the needs you have defined in your analysis. The input provides stimulus material for activities; new language items; correct models of language use; a topic for communication; opportunities for learners to use their information processing skills; opportunities for learners to use their existing knowledge both of the language and the subject matter. b) Content focus: Language is a means of conveying information and feelings about something. Non-linguistic content should be exploited to generate meaningful communication in the classroom. c) Language focus: In language focus learners have the chance to take the language to pieces, study how it works and practice putting it back together again. d) Task: Materials should be designed, therefore, to lead towards a communicative task in which learners use the content and language knowledge they have built up through the unit. A materials design model: sample materials - Language is approached through an area of content. -The starter plays a number of important roles: it creates a context of knowledge for the comprehension of the input; it activates the learners` minds and gets them thinking; arouses the learners` interest in the topic; it reveals what learners already know in terms of language and content; provides a meaningful context in which to introduce new vocabulary or grammatical items. - Learners should always be encouraged to find answers for themselves wherever possible. - It is possible to incorporate opportunities for the learners to use their own knowledge and abilities at any stage. It is particularly useful to do this as soon as the basic information contained in the input has been identified, in order to reinforce connections between this and the learners` own interests and needs. - Learners need practice in organizing information, as well as learning the means for expressing those ideas. Using the models Stage 1: Find your text Stage 2: Go to the end of the model. Think of a task that the learners could do at the end of the unit Stage3: Go back to the syllabus. Is the task the kind of activity that will benefit your learners? Stage 4: Decide what language structures, vocabulary, functions, content the input contains. Stage 5: Think of some exercises and activities to practice the items you have identified. Stage 6: Try out any revisions on your learners. Stage 7: Go through stages 1-6 again with revised input. Stage 8: Check the new materials against the syllabus and amend accordingly Stage 9: Try the materials in the classroom Stage 10: Revise the materials in the light of classroom use. Conclusion - We should first question whether the learners` needs are significantly different from those of other groups in our institution. It may be possible to use existing materials. But make sure that this solution is acceptable to everyone concerned. - If a new set of material is needed, the second alternative is to look at published materials and choose some useful units. - If the second alternative does not work, we can adapt existing materials, adding or changing some exercises. - Finally, we can write new materials using the following hints: Use existing materials as a source for ideas It is better to work as a team Materials can always be improved Pay careful attention to the appearance of your materials.